Prep prep prep

That's what I'm trying to do, get prepared. In my 40 years there's been nothing that compares to the stress that riding in Death Valley brings. Sure, it's stressful on the body. I live in good 'ole humid Michigan, I'm not used to the water being sucked out of my body like it is during the ride. That brings the other stress - mental. I like to think that I'm always thinking straight, but there are times out there where I'm not. It's when I haven't been drinking enough when I'm despirate to be done. I feel irrational. It's difficult to explain and I can remember it. I hope I don't go there this year, hence the preparation. 121.5 miles in the past week with strength training at the gym and a few long walks mixed in there too. I've dropped some weight in the past month too, I'm hoping to get below 200. I was around 217 last year at this time. It'd be great to have less carcass to carry on the bike!

Thinking about riding in the Desert

Death Valley is a mere 3 weeks away. I'm both excited and dreading it. I thought I'd write a little about it in case anyone new to the ride happens to click onto my blog.
DV is the most difficult single day physical activity I've done in my life. It rounds the whole range of emotion from excitement in the shadows of the mountain at the start to dehydration injected dejection in the doldrums of the return to the elation of crossing the finish. It's not like 100 miles at home. You don't feel the water leaving your body. You can get in trouble fast. I've tried for the 105 twice and not made it. It's harsh, prepare and don't take the coach's advice lightly. Don't push yourself until you puke or go out in the SAG van or an ambulance. I want to finish happy this year.
My strategy:
Hydrate: Like last year I took the advice of the coaches and started hydrating the day before. It helped. I'm also taking along a powder'd drink I like to mix with water. Last year they had a drink I didn't like - so I didn't drink as much as I should. Make sure you're peeing at every stop. I'm bringing a 100 oz camelback bladder for the trike.
Eat: Katie had great advice on eating on the team blog a month ago. I plan on a good breakfast and the suggested PB&J's along the route. Per Santa Clause's suggestion (ask me someday) I make sure and eat something salty to retain water.
Don't: Kill yourself to do the 105. Man do I want that 105. I want to fly down Jubilee! It's easy right now to say "maybe I'll turn at Ashford Mills". It's different when I'm out there. Guess I'll hope for good judgement in the desert.

The scary ride

Monday was a beautiful day for a commute, I was pretty happy when I wrote the last entry Monday afternoon. However the evening was a different story. The physical part wasn't bad, the dog was. I was chased about a month or so ago by a black blur that I (barely) out ran. Mind you - on the trike my head is about mouth height on a medium sized dog. Monday I saw the black blur charge off of his porch at me. I recognized the siloette as a pitt bull. Yep, of all the dogs, my nemisys is a pit bull. Per suggestions on my trike board I stopped and he stopped about 5 feet from the bike. He wanted to chase and bark at me. I yelled at the run-down house for 5 minutes to no avail. He backed up some and I tried mounting the bike and leaving, but he charged again. I yelled some more - no answer. I ended up calling my wife, telling her I was pinned down in front of this house and to call the county sheriff. A few minutes after I hung up and owner appeard and had the dog go inside. He apologized and you know me, I said no problem, but you shouldn't let him run. The owner didn't like hearing that. Then I apologized for having called the police - I was trying to explain that I didn't know anyone was home, etc., but he went ballistic. Okay, to give you a visual I just pissed of a tatoo'd man with a shaved head and a pit bull. Great! He said he was going to beat me up if I didn't leave his property! I said that we should calm down and talk about it - he wasn't listening. I got on the bike and went down the road. I did run into the State Police trooper about a mile down the road and explained the story to her. I said I didn't want to file a report, just didn't want to get bit. I'm not sure what happened from there, but scariest commute leg ever.

Life is busy - can I ride now?!

Back in the Saddle! Yes! I did ride into work this morning! I was just too busy and then tired to go this weekend. The thought passed my brain on Sunday but I just wasn't into it. We're just 4 weeks out from Death Valley and I need the miles. I asked my manager if I can use some vacation time an hour at a time to make up for coming in late (answer: yes.) So I figure I can get in almost 400 miles that way if I do it 3 days a week. I've done 3 days once this year, so trying to do it 4 times in a row will be a challenge. However, if you don't set a goal you can't hit it. (I know, very project managerish!)

So, this weekend. 3 days working at the Van Andel at the Circus. Man that was draining. I try not to work more than once a week (lest it start feeling like a real job) but it was an opportunity to get a bunch of hours. I worked Thursday night, Friday night and Saturday morning and afternoon.
Saturday I got home around 5, took a quick shower, threw the tent (and other stuff) into the back of the truck and headed to the Cub Scout overnighter. It was a good outing, but I have to admit, I was tired and just not really into it. Sleeping in the big tent in a neighborhood seems so tame compared with the Boundary Waters trip. Pretty easy work. And by the way, Scouting is a great way to put your kids on a good path. I wish I would have done more of it now. We have a great group and it turns out some pretty terrific kids.
Sunday I felt a little better, but there were family things to attend to since I had been gone so much. I commented to my wife that the only meal I ate at home all weekend was peanut butter toast. Can I get another weekend please?

Anniversary weekend

Yep, I don't like to go beyond my thoughts and talk about the family here, but I did have the passing of my 17th wedding anniversary on Sunday. No names here, but if you've met her you know I'm a lucky guy.

We had a great and rainy weekend. I reserved a room at the Westin Lombard (Chicago) IL. I picked the upgraded room without a tub. Good call by me! We had a beautiful room with an amazing bathroom. As I had assumed, nice glassed in shower. Really really nice all around and a good deal. I did mention to the concierge that it was our Anniversary and she had a bottle of wine sent to our room. Definately a class act all around.

Friday night we visited "Holy Mackerel!", the bar attached to Harry Caray's restaurant. Nice place, good food.

Saturday was a flurry. We had a good local breakfast and headed down the road. My wife's never been to IKEA and didn't understand the allure. We spent about 2 hours in there! After having worked up an appetite we headed to Naperville. I had to have lunch at Portillo's. I've been Jones'n for a hot Italian beef sandwich from there for . . . a long time. It was as fantastic as I remember. After lunch we just bummed around Naperville. We visited the spot we lived for a year and the mall across the street. I ran across a store that was filled with Manga stuff the kids would love.

Later that evening we went to a dinner theater. Drury Lane in Oakbrook Terrace. It was about 4 miles from the hotel and pretty easy to get to. Dinner was pretty good and the show was funny! The play was "The boys from Syracuse".

We had a great weekend.

Comments

I always have a difficult time giving advice or commenting on something I don't agree with. Afterall, what the heck do I know? Well yesterday I was out of character. Obviously I know a thing or two about printers. I read a printer comparison done @ CNN's smal business site. It was one of those apples to oranges comparisons that might not be obvious to everyone. I sent a comment poking holes in the whole thing & they contacted me and asked if they could publish my comments. I thought that was pretty cool.
There are days when I miss being the subject matter expert.
So, back to "what the heck do I know?" Maybe that's just what I like to portray externally. I actually do know lots and have my opinion, right or wrong, on everything. However I don't usually show my cards. I think that's interesting psychologically. Do I want to please people by letting them do what they want despite what I might think? Did I express my opinion sometime early in life & get crushed by being wrong? Do I get a kick out of watching people stumble when they're wrong? Maybe it's just related to my conservative nature. Think, think, think, think some more, execute. Insecurity? Maybe I should take another psychology class or two.

Back from the Boundary Waters

I'm back from my trip in the woods. I need to post my pics in Picasa, but wanted to share my movies here.